


To See the Sweetest Smile

by Shadowgeist



Series: Trials of the Five Virtuosos (and guest) [2]
Category: Assassination Classroom, Persona Series
Genre: Don't need prior Persona knowledge, End Class' secret is Exposed, Gen, Mental Health Issues, Post-Korosensei's Death (Assassination Classroom), The Velvet Room (Persona Series), and others are completely new, keep your eyes peeled persona fans, some of these demons haven't seen the light of day in decades so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 01:01:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29001897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowgeist/pseuds/Shadowgeist
Summary: Who would've thought that a random person at graduation meeting a de facto Virtuoso of Kunugigaoka would kickstart such an adventure?Or such a way to see the world which hides what lies behind the smiles people wear?Or even that such formerly ruthless students would be able to make their smilesever so slightlymore real?Maybe these new people they're meeting could give you a clue.
Relationships: Araki Teppei & Asano Gakushuu & Koyama Natsuhiko & Sakakibara Ren & Seo Tomoya, Asano Gakushuu & Sakakibara Ren, Asano Gakushuu/Sakakibara Ren, Class 3-E & Korosensei (Assassination Classroom), Korosensei/Yukimura Aguri
Series: Trials of the Five Virtuosos (and guest) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2127615
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

Two bright yellow eyes blinked open to a strange world. A world framed by the rose brown hair hanging low over them. A small hand lifted itself to brush away the hair obscuring the view.

The strange world looked like an ancient temple. Pillars stood tall to support a massive, almost domed roof. The four walls were almost entirely stained glass, forming intricate images of flora, fauna, humans, and countless unknown creatures of all sizes, shapes, and colors. But the most prevalent image was a butterfly on the ceiling, large and dazzling with every color to ever exist painted on its brilliant wings. The silhouette of such a creature was on the floor.

Something said it should’ve been overwhelming. That normally it would hurt to see such violently bright colors. But something about this place was simply too calming -- too peaceful -- to allow for such a thing.

A man stood at the center of the silhouette; on the taller side, but not quite imposing. His long, dark hair was tied back, swaying in a feather-light breeze. He wore a white turtleneck shirt and brown slacks, and his black blazer sported embroidered designs of silvery plants and blue and gold butterflies, not unlike what decorated the windows. He wore a mask shaped like a butterfly’s wings, white gold with black veins, and spots of blue outlining the undersides of the eye holes, where soft brown eyes gazed at the bright yellow ones before him.

“Welcome; it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The man’s deep, almost gentle voice compelled the yellow-eyed guest to stand, albeit on shaky legs. They could see their body, small and slightly tanned. The floor was icy under bare feet, despite soft clothes keeping the rest of such a small body warm.

Oh right. She was also a girl. A young, yellow-eyed, rose brown haired girl.

There was someone else behind her. A man she wasn’t sure she recognized. His hair was black and a bit long and shaggy, and his clothes were torn up and covered in blood, especially the pale shirt he wore. Rather than merely asleep, he looked unconscious from injury; She’d almost think him dead if not for the occasional shifting of the heavy chains all over his body. She couldn’t get a very good look at his eyes, but they seemed to be trying to open.

“Who are you?… Where am I?” a small voice came from the girl’s throat as she turned back to the man in the mask.

His lips quirked up in some form of a smile. “I am Philemon, a dweller being consciousness and unconsciousness. I invited you both to my domain. Now tell me, if you are able, who might you be?”

She didn’t know if she’d be able to answer. She couldn’t remember anything beyond what she looked like. The girl racked her brain for something,  _ anything _ , that could be what the strange man asked for. Images crossed her mind -- other faces, other people, other names -- but not quite her own.

“Gakushu… Ren… Natsu… Teppei… Seo… where are all of you?” she asked herself, a slight lisp making itself known.

_ “I’m grateful for your accommodations, Ms. Nikija.” _

_ “Hope you don’t mind me taking him off your hands, Yasumi.” _

“Yasumi…” the name finally emerged. “Yasumi Nikija.”

“Rea… per…” a voice pulled her attention to the injured man still on the floor, unable to stand but doing his utmost to answer. “No. Wait… Koro… Korosen… ai…? No, no… Korosen… sei… Koro-sensei.” A soft smile reached his eyes and his body relaxed.

“Well done, both of you,” the masked man commended. “Not many can remember their identity in this realm. You both pass that test. But it seems you may also be aware of the many masks that you wear; the selves within you."

"Masks?" the two echoed

"Of course. The masks you wear are what allow you to move through everyday life. You harbor numerous selves, which can be capable of boundless love, or merciless cruelty. You live by wearing different masks, and either of you might be wearing one of said masks right now. However, you both have a powerful grip on who you are, and the force of will that might let you show it. Be your true self a god, or a demon, the time is soon to reveal all. Now you must return, little ones, to your proper time and place.”

“Wait,” Yasumi said, even as the world faded around her. “Can you at least tell me what’s wrong with him? Or why he’s in this state?”

Philemon slowly shook his head, but his smile remained soft. “All will be known in due time, child. You just may be able to discover and rescue this peculiar Wild Card, along with those who walk alongside you.”

The darkness slowly closed in, and all disappeared with it.

“Goodbye, little one, and good luck.”

* * *

A lot of things were changing now that the Big Five and the majority of their peers were going to Kunugigaoka High School. But some things, like their junior friend, were thankfully staying the same.

Ms. Nikija was at least content with her daughter staying on the academy’s campus while she worked in the Junior High kitchens. She had certainly grown more relaxed with her daughter’s independence since meeting Gakushu and his friends. All the better for the high school first years. After all, Akabane was back and fully cemented as one of their classmates, and while he didn’t seem quite as volatile as he used to be, they still felt a little more comfortable having a friendly face to go to.

They did probably have to explain her presence to the upperclassmen, though.

“Are you even out of primary school, shrimp?” one of said upperclassmen asked her.

She gave no answer, still doing her work.

“Hey, I’m talking to you,” the larger student warned.

“Don’t do that!” hissed Kondo, a girl from the Big Five’s class. “She’s with the Five.”

“Your point?” he asked, his hand moving to close her laptop on her hand, not noticing her free one headed for her bag.

“They probably won’t like hearing you going after their friend, Taneda,” another upperclassman warned.

“Besides, she has a --!”

A black rod shot from her bag and lodged two screws in his palm. Loud buzzing crackles of electricity filled the air as he cried out in pain.

“…Taser,” Kondo finished with a wince when it stopped. With hardly a glance, Yasumi pulled the black pipe away and kept it securely at her side.

That, of course, was when Yasumi finally completed her assignment and decided to look up. “If there is anything I may be able to assist you with, please allow me to first complete my own school work. Just because I am not one of you does not and  _ will not _ equal to me being any less of a student than any of you. I hope you are able to understand.”

Taneda flinched back, gripping his twitchy arm. “Creepy chick,” he muttered, turning tail and running for the door. Kondo merely shook her head with a sigh and shooed away everyone else who was gathering, apologizing to Yasumi for the senpai’s behavior.

She didn’t stay much longer, though. Yasumi had soon after packed up and left the library and went to wait for her friends, in their new little meeting place.

It was a computer lab; a peaceful classroom that was almost never used even by other students, especially since the vast majority of what was there was relocated somewhere more convenient; there were only one or two computers per table when each could easily hold four or five. It had everything one would like for a quiet area. It had an immediate door outside, a quick route to the restroom, and was overshadowed by the library on one side with nothing else on the other. The moment the Big Five and their de facto sixth realized such a place had existed in the Senior High building, they were quick to unofficially claim it. Even though they didn’t usually use the unfortunate computers, it was still a fairly comfortable and private place to congregate without much of a chance of any unfriendly ears or eyes.

Yasumi made herself comfortable at a table with her own laptop, content to research her particular fixations, counting the hours for classes to end and for Gakushu and the others to arrive as they always did so long as Akabane could be avoided.

She still found it a bit difficult to get that peculiar long-haired man out of her head. He wasn’t a parent nor was he an officer or one of the throng of news reporters that invaded the boys’ middle school graduation. He simply watched from the outside as the vultures were pushed back and their targets escorted from under their view. If that mountain class boy’s little sister hadn’t acknowledged him, Yasumi herself might’ve not even noticed he was there. Normally, it would be fairly easy even for her to notice someone wearing such a peculiar and  _ obvious _ butterfly/moth-themed mask, but his presence was a notch away from nonexistent.

The little girl who noticed him first probably only did so because of the mask he wore. She remembered Ren and Gakushu telling her that the child seemed to be also on the spectrum, and had a fascination for insects and arachnids. When Yasumi realized he was there, it was a bit difficult to place exactly what sort of person he was. He just stood there, quietly smiling and watching the final End Class be escorted onto their bus by her friends before being driven away.

She vaguely heard the door open. “Man, that was close.”

Outside her bangs, she could see a thin, slouched figure slumping into a chair. A telltale sign of it being Natsu. ( _ That reminds me, I should really remember to keep an extra comb or brush on hand. He still hasn’t yet learned how to properly care for his hair. That can’t be any better than a bird neglecting its feathers. _ )

“Will the others be here soon?” she asked.

“Hopefully,” the bespectacled student replied. “Some of the seniors were pretty upset after you tased someone. What was that all about, anyway?”

“He was attempting to interrupt my work via closing the lid of my laptop over my hand. Given how he was taller and undoubtedly stronger than myself, I did not wish to have his weight in any capacity pressing down on and possibly breaking both my laptop  _ and _ my fingers.”

“That’s fair.”

It didn’t take much longer for the others to arrive. Teppei stumbled into a chair like he’d just run a marathon. Seo stalked in to lean against the wall with a thunderous look on his face. Ren and Gakushu came in together, the former closing the door behind them.

“Forgive us for being late,” the strawberry blond apologized.

“We barely managed to lose Akabane in the halls with that girl latching onto you, buddy. Sorry I wasn’t able to help shake her,” Ren sighed, hopping onto a table. “Anything exciting happen while we were in class, Yasumi?”

“Just needing to tase a not-so-welcoming senior,” Natsu replied. “She said the bastard tried to close her laptop on her fingers and was probably begging to get zapped anyway.”

The other boys seemed to understand well enough. The Junior High kids who attended the main building didn’t have a problem with her due to Yasumi being there for a few years already. Some of the High School’s oldest students may not have known about her before or could’ve even forgotten her presence when they were younger.

“By the way,” Yasumi noted. “Did any of you even notice the man in the mask at your graduation ceremony last March?”

“Not that I can recall,” Gakushu replied, eyes narrowing in piqued interest. “Can you elaborate?”

The girl jumped right in at the invitation. “I remember when you first told me about Sasura, the little girl that wandered onto the Junior High campus last year. She was the one to first point out the strange man for me to notice him, most likely due to his mask resembling a butterfly or moth’s wings. She called him ‘Mr. Swallowtail’ in reference to its color pattern.”

“Yeah, Sasura probably knows every butterfly and moth pattern by heart,” Ren commented. “But a mask like that would normally stick out like a rose in a vegetable garden. How did we not notice?”

“As much as the mask, and his hair being long enough to be in a ponytail, might stand out, he wasn’t terribly tall and his clothes could easily blend in with the other formal attire in and around the building. He would’ve been easy to overlook in the crowd with all the news reporters that invaded the ceremony as well, given how he was quietly standing back and observing rather than actively attempting to intrude.”

“So this strange guest was of the polite sort, however uninvited,” Gakushu summarized, earning a nod from the rose brunette.

“If this guy was that weird, why didn’t you tell us about him at the ceremony itself?” Seo asked with a sneer.

Yasumi blinked at him; the answer should’ve been more than obvious.

“We were a  _ little _ preoccupied getting E-Class away from the tabloids, remember?” Teppei pointed out. “And while it sounds sketchy, the guy wasn’t doing anything harmful like the reporters were. There wouldn’t  _ be _ any reason to point him out to us unless he actually  _ was _ causing trouble.”

_ Thank you for the elaboration, Teppei. I’m sure that answers your question, Seo? _

“…Oh… right,” Seo replied, ever the eloquent linguist.

“In any case, there is the possibility this man can be found on Araki’s recording of the ceremony,” Gakushu remarked.

Yasumi, unfortunately, shook her head. “Even in the slight possibility that he  _ is _ there, not only is he behind a very large, camera-laden crowd, but the distance and angle at its  _ most _ plausible still makes it nigh-impossible to get a proper visual.”

The boys scowled at their luck, or lack thereof.

“Dammit,” cursed the purple-eyed redhead, banging a clenched fist against one of the tables. He sighed. “So many mysteries to solve, without a single available lead to follow any of them. Unfortunately, our best bet is to confront them one at a time. We’ll likely have better luck with the End Class monster.”

“How are we supposed to do that?” Natsu asked. “We’re  _ bound _ to have Akabane breathing down our necks if we get anywhere near it after they somehow  _ bought _ the estate on the mountain!”

“But it’s unlikely that anyone will be guarding the area,” Teppei pointed out. “No matter how unstoppable those guys got, they’re all still our age and nowhere near Asano and Sakakibara in status, no matter how they managed to get that money. Let’s not forget, Akabane has been essentially blind to Yasumi’s presence from the beginning.”

Yasumi believed she could see where he was going. “We’ve never truly met, as many times as we might have crossed paths. At the very least, he might know who my mother is, which would provide a perfect reason to pay me no mind if he were to see me in proximity to the Middle School.”

“So you’d be able to fly under his radar and head up the mountain!” Ren finished with a grin. But a few seconds later, it faltered into concern. “But it’s dangerous up there. There’s supposedly a beehive on the trail, some of the boulders can come loose and fall, the leaf litter’s crawling with snakes, and there’s a river up there with a downed bridge.”

Natsu cringed at the thought. “One trail up and down, and it has a dozen ways to  _ kill yourself! _ ”

“Right, as if the final mountain class didn’t make it a fair bit safer after purchasing the mountain,” Yasumi commented. “As a matter of fact, I’m almost certain that aside from the beehive and perhaps the bridge, any dangers were merely planted in years previous and are no longer functional. After my school work is done tomorrow, I’ll gladly search the E Class building.”

They should’ve been expecting such a debunk to their worries. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the boulders or snakes were planted just to kick the End Class on their way down the mountain for assemblies and such. 

“Just be safe for us, Yasumi,” Teppei requested in concern. “And make sure to leave no trace that you were even there. We still don't know for sure if anyone goes up to check on that place, so I’d rather you not take any chances."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Velvet Room shows itself and its inhabitants, along with the beginnings of a mystery. But the mind can be a fickle and temperamental thing sometimes, especially when memories refuse to appear.

When Yasumi went to sleep, she found herself somewhere new.

For one thing, the main thing she saw was blue. Everything was dressed in deep, rich shades of blue, and it looked almost like a large, opaque greenhouse of sorts. The floor she was laying on was covered in thick, soft, royal blue carpet. Jagged, silvery formations reminiscent of trees littered the area, bearing lanterns on the ends of their branch-like protrusions. Cloudy, hard to discern, but colorful shapes fluttered between the “trees” and through the walls, like birds crafted from morning fog. And all at the center of the strange room was a place where the “trees” twisted into shapes reminiscent of two couches and a coffee table, sheets of ultramarine covering and cushioning the couches.

One of the two couches was occupied by a strange man.

The one thing that first got Yasumi’s attention about him was his long, ibis-like nose. His glaring eyes were wide and bugged out in a way; owlish, almost. His ears were long and pointed, and his silver hair was bald at the top of his head. And yet, even with his black suit, he sat in the center of his couch as if it were the most natural thing in the world, gloved hands neatly folded over his crossed legs. He was even staring directly at her, patient yet expectant, and chuckled as she approached.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear young lady. Please, have a seat.”

Yasumi, still in awe of the place she was in, wordlessly complied, sitting on the empty couch across the odd man. The closer look allowed her to also see a woman standing behind the couch the man took. A kind and smiling woman with a long, dark brown pixie cut whose bangs just managed to reach her golden eyes. She was wearing a long, dark blue coat that had gold straps along the sleeves. The white-striped collar was tied shut with a neat little bow, and a wide, darker blue belt bordered with silver was fastened around her waist, but the gold-bordered coat was still open enough to show a silver crescent shape on a black shirt, with a bright yellow circle in its inner curve. A similar design was in her hair as a clip with a bit of blue ribbon peering out from beneath the crescent. She even wore dark blue slacks with ribbons tied around her ankles, above her dark shoes.

“My name is Igor,” the man introduced himself. “I’m delighted to make your acquaintance. I believe this is the first time we’ve had a guest like yourself. This is Yuki, a resident of this place like myself.”

“It’s wonderful to meet you,” the lady in question said cheerily, hugging a tablet to her chest. “I hope that we’ll be a big help, miss… um…”

“Yasumi Nikija,” the teen introduced herself. “If I may ask, what exactly is this place? And what am I doing here?”

Igor chuckled. “This is a place that exists between mind and matter, dreams and reality. Only those bound by a contract may enter; yours was issued by my master, Philemon, for another guest is unfortunately unable to show.  The Room itself reflects the state of your heart, and yours is a very interesting one indeed; more welcoming to wandering spirits than any other guest I have encountered.”

Yasumi took another look at the Velvet Room’s appearance. At all of the cloudy lights that splashed color against her cerulean surroundings. Light a giant Velvet Aviary. “I suppose… But it could just be that I’ve always seen things differently from others. It’s a shame I can’t see these wandering spirits as clearly as I can see birds or patterns in the clouds. Perhaps regular people see such things this way as well.”

Igor hummed at the remark. “A very curious thought indeed… Yes, I’m sure that your journey will be a most memorable one. One for which our purpose will be explained at a better time. Until we meet again.”

A strange haze took over her mind, and the velvet blue faded away to a deep, dark sleep.

* * *

Yasumi was able to push aside the strange dream she had -- and the question of whether it could even be called as such -- long enough to concentrate on and complete her schoolwork, with the upperclassmen inexplicably letting her be. Probably because they finally got the memo that she was a) with the best of the best students to come from the Junior High, and b) armed with a self-defense weapon that she can easily whip out on a dime.

Once her schoolwork was done, she turned to her phone’s messaging app, wisely choosing to ignore Ren’s most recent “wrong chat” message to his new girlfriend. ( _ Gakushu and I still have some work to do with Ren’s philandering, considering where that might eventually land him. At this point, I wonder if he’s actually attracted to girls in the first place. _ )

**Storm Soldier** _   
_ _ @everyone  _ I’m heading up the mountain now.   
Meet in our usual place and keep someone at the door on lookout.

The response came surprisingly quick.

**Master of Cameras** **  
** 10-4, Yasumi. B safe

**Academic King** **  
** Best of luck on your mission.   
Now all except Yasumi, phones away.

Yasumi couldn’t help a sigh, unsurprised that Gakushu would send a quick “good luck” message before telling the others to focus on their classes. Without another word, she headed for the usual computer lab, exiting through the door in the back, venturing towards the Junior High campus and the uphill slope beside it.

On her little trek, the image of the Velvet Room wildly reared its head, and all the questions that came with it, tumbling out of her mouth in an endless whisper.

“Where did that place even come from? Between dreams and reality? What on Earth does that even mean? It doesn’t make any sense. There’s no such place as  _ between _ dreams and reality or mind and matter. And why a place where everything is blue?”

She reached the bottom of the hill, still murmuring all of her unanswerable questions as she started climbing the mountain, up the path worn by so many people going up and down the mountain day in and day out.

“What sort of person was that Igor supposed to be? And why did that Yuki woman seem so familiar? Didn’t there once be a teacher of that sort at the Junior High? I don’t remember seeing such a person. A mountain class teacher, perhaps? Then why would she be in the Velvet Room as an assistant? I may have a reason not to know her, but she should at least know about me via my surname if she did teach here.”

She avoided the sound of buzzing when she heard the noise, continuing along a path littered with fallen, broken rocks. Some sported very unusual colors compared to the rest of the ground; others looked like they’d been cut from the earth. She couldn’t see any precariously looming boulders further up the hill, though.

“What did Igor mean by all of those things he said? Contract? I don’t remember signing any contract of any kind. Master? Wasn’t his name Philemon? Who’s that supposed to be? And guests? Have other people seen that room before? Would I be able to find them to ask what they had to do with it? Could they help figure out why some other guest might not appear? And what sort of journey am I supposed to be going on that would require the involvement of such a place and such people? What did he mean by the Velvet Room reflecting the state of my heart? That looks nothing like a human heart; I saw no such image anywhere in that aviary of ghosts. Just that odd piano and singing, wherever that was coming from.”

With the trail she was taking, Yasumi only found a couple of snakes in the leaf litter, all of which only poking their heads out from under rocks or logs. Though a rather incriminating couple of bugs impaled on a thorny branch suggested the beginnings of a shrike’s larder; a young one must’ve flown in recently from the other side of the mountain.

That helped calm Yasumi’s thoughts about the Velvet Room, bringing her attention to the other birds chirping around her. She could hear the call of a bluebird or two, and a couple of swifts. And given the loud calls of various bluebirds, cuckoos, and swallows following and surrounding a much bigger shadow, it was easy to assume a passing goshawk was currently being mobbed.

It would be a nice place for birdwatching at a more convenient time.

The downed bridge was a very real problem, though. Or at least, it  _ would _ be if it were a necessary part of the trail. She rose a brow after passing by an old wooden sign that read “shortcut” as she skirted alongside the river and continued her way up. The local water birds seemed pretty content that the invading girl was leaving them be anyway, and she was glad to observe them while passing through.

Eventually, she reached the fence of poles around the old, wooden schoolhouse. A short, quaint little place with an old, shingled roof. A small section of the back looked relatively new, though, as if part of it were torn down and rebuilt. As she expected, no one was around. The place was already quite a ways from any reason to even approach the mountain. There was a highly unlikely chance that any but those who already once came here would go so much as to the border of the forest, and even that was slim.

It wasn't particularly hard to get past the fence. Yasumi was able to slip through the widely-spaced bars with ease to approach the building. Strangely enough, for all the bad things that were said of this place, it was somewhere that any person like herself would adore. There was just something welcoming about the building, even as she had to seek out an abandoned open window to get inside. The windowsill was only as high as her hips; it was easily enough to climb over and hop in.

You’d have thought the teachers and students who attended had only left for the day. There was a filled bookcase in the corner she climbed in next to, and the recycling bin and garbage can had some paper scraps and food wrappers in them. She spotted a calendar, a seating chart, and a few schedules on either side of the giant chalkboard, too. But weighted to the teacher’s podium was what she was really looking for.

A photograph. Over thirty people stuffed into a single 16x10cm image, if a couple could even be called people. But between the human teachers in the back and the class of students was a creature unlike anything she’d ever seen. A giant, lemon yellow creature in a long black robe and a graduation cap, who had a wide and welcoming smile and a number of endlessly long, winding tentacle arms wrapped around anywhere from individual students to a handful at a time. Some looked a bit disgruntled in their positions, others didn’t seem to mind, but a fair many grinned like it was the best group hug in the world, some even hugging each other. Even the tiny image of a girl on a student’s phone seemed to be offering a smile to the camera, making a heart with her hands.

In a way, the media was correct: this Class 3-E really did spend an entire year under the tutelage of a monster. But Yasumi’s theory was correct as well: monster he may be, but that creature was the best thing that ever could’ve happened to those kids. She could even see Akabane himself in the photo, -- the furthest thing from aggressive or intimidating -- alongside a blue-haired boy with another student holding onto either of their shoulders.

One way or another, this place had to have been the happiest year of any of their lives.

Yasumi took the photo and placed it in her bag. Looking around for anything else she could use but finding none, she climbed out the window, now on her way back down the mountain.

“It’s more than obvious that this place housed a far more nurturing environment than the main building ever did. Perhaps if I introduce them sometime, the boys will actually grow to like this place themselves. Perhaps they’d understand how the children of the final End Class were better off than the ones who despised them so.”

She reached the High School again to the same door she exited from, seeing Seo holding it open and having a seemingly heated discussion with the others inside. He was just leaning against the door, talking haughtily to the rest of the Big Five with his nose upturned and his eyes hooded shut. The ultimate position of arrogance.

“What’s wrong with thinking she got caught? It’s not like she’ll get in trouble for it. Unless she went and spilled the beans like the retard she is,” -- the word brought Yasumi’s hand to her taser, slowly walking closer while his attention wasn’t outside -- “it wouldn’t be hard to say she was birdwatching or something.”

The other guys inside turned to her almost the moment she silently stepped into view. Teppei quietly counted down with his fingers, mouthing the numbers.

_ Three… two… one… go. _

“I mean, either that or she got sidetracked and that’s what she’s doing -- AGH!” Seo cried out when the screws of the taser zapped him in the side. “What the HELL!”

“I’ve returned,” Yasumi said flatly, pushing through, “and I didn’t enjoy hearing that slur.”

Gakushu sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. “Honestly, Seo, you really should remember that such language  _ ought to be _ beneath your dignity.”

“Sorry, Asano…” the other apologized before slumping into a seat.

"You find anything, Yasumi?" Teppei asked, pushing up his glasses as she sat down.

The girl nodded, reaching into her bag while the boys gathered expectantly. She drew out the photo she found and put it on the table between them. "This was a photograph that was found in the mountain classroom, on the teacher's podium. And the image is evidently not doctored."

They all stared down at the grinning creature in the picture with wide eyes. Gakushu looked almost in awe, Ren holding onto his shoulder. Natsu touched the corner of the image in an almost delicate fashion, where a girl with glasses and braids was being hugged by a girl with green pigtails. Even Seo was rendered speechless, unable to leave any kind of snarky quip. It was like they couldn't even recognize the E Class as what they were intended to be. They knew the students, and they probably at least vaguely recognized the teachers in the background. But they never appeared to expect the most jumbled, haphazard, and  _ happy _ class/family photo in the world.

"Do you understand now, boys?" she inquired. "Do you know who was telling the truth now?" If she didn't know better, she'd think a few of them were crying from sadness.

Teppei briefly removed his glasses to rub his eyes. "Absolutely," he replied wetly. "The media had  _ seriously _ messed up this story, and that's coming from me."

It was easy enough to see the gears whirring in Gakushu’s head. “All of those strange reports… the yellow octopus… the strange-looking man… possibly even the disembodied whispers… and the rise of the final End Class… No doubt  _ this _ was the reason for all the strange phenomena at the end of the year.”

“It all comes back to this so-called monster,” Ren concluded. “I know we’ve all seen him, at the very least in the assembly last year, but… it’s still hard to imagine something like this being hidden on the satellite campus.”

“Given the structure of the school’s system itself, I have little reason to doubt that this teacher was one of, if not  _ the _ only teacher to ever truly be in their corner,” Yasumi commented. “The classroom was quite clearly abandoned as well. It’s almost definite that this teacher didn’t live past your graduation.”

_ He’s not dead, though, _ a small voice said in the back of Yasumi’s head.

“Can’t say I’m surprised,” Natsu said glumly. “Considering the giant beehive barrier of doom and all-encompassing death laser from above, it’d be beyond a miracle if he made it out at all.”

_ But he did. Just not in the way you’d think, _ the voice said again.

“Why is that, I wonder?” pondered Gakushu. “What reason could they have for slaughtering a creature that lifted this class beyond their own expectations? You’d almost think he was the world’s most wanted criminal fresh out of his cell, if this didn’t prove otherwise.”

Seo cringed. “You don’t think they blamed this thing for what happened to the freakin’  _ moon _ , do you?”

The images hit her all at once in a bursting headache. The man in the mask, Igor’s face, Yuki, every single spirit in the Velvet Room. A different image was there, but it was too cloudy… too dark… she couldn’t figure it out.

The effort was making the other images too bright and invasive. The boys were all pressing in too close with their huddling. Pain and fear were seizing her like shackles and chains wrapping all around her body and locking around her neck.

“Wouldn’t surprise… Yasumi? Yasumi, is something wrong?” Teppei’s voice reached through the images and rang in her ears. Her bangs weren’t enough to shade her eyes from those  _ damned _ fluorescent lights every single classroom she knew was doomed to have. She crumpled into a ball in her chair, burying her face in her knees and grabbing at her hair, her arms’ positions locking her legs together. Her skin itched and burned like acid were poured onto her body, every single muscle rattling underneath.

_ Too loud… Too bright… Too close… Too  _ much! _ Too  _ fast!

Her surroundings started to dim… someone was turning the lights off. It dimmed some more… the blinds, maybe? Someone tugged a hand away from her hair, but even its gentle hold seared her before something new was slotted into her palm. Her hand clenched around it tight.

There was a soft click, and a buzzing, vibrating crackle reached her ears with a flickering light outside her field of view.

Her hand relaxed, and it stopped. Her body recognized the object sooner than she did, and she lifted her eyes to where her taser sat in her hand. Her thumb pressed the button as her grip tightened, and the electricity made it rattle in her grip while the flashing sparks mesmerized her. When her grip loosened, the button popped back into place, the current stopping and falling silent and still.

Instinctively, her hands joined in front of her around the black pipe, elbows resting on her knees now. Closing her eyes, she held her precious weapon against her forehead as she repeatedly pressed the button, feeling how it vibrated against and grounded her brain. Like the low rumble of thunder, it brought her back to herself and slowed everything down. Her thumb followed her heartbeat, pushing the button one beat and releasing on the next, repeating the cycle as it gradually slowed down. Pulled taut and shaking muscles loosened and fell back into their original position, and breathing came a little easier now that she wasn’t inadvertently constraining her lungs, even though her stomach still rolled angrily. The high-pitched whine faded from her ears.

As her legs lowered, so too did her arms, bringing the screws of her taser back into view and letting her once again see the flicker of electricity between the threaded metal spires. The tunnel vision receded, and even though she was still shaking, she could look around at her friends: Natsu at the light switch, Seo and Gakushu on either side of the blinds, and Teppei and Ren both standing a few paces away from where she sat.

She didn’t normally melt down like this in front of them, but she supposed this was one of those days.

Yasumi took a deep, shuddering sigh. “S-sorry.”

The tension melted from all of them with a mirroring, simultaneous sigh around a chorus of most of them softly saying, “Don’t be.” The strawberry blond was the first to step forward and ask, “Are you alright, Yasumi? We can return to this matter at a different time if you’d like us to. Perhaps with Akabane in tow, should we have to question him about this.”

The rose brunette nodded and craned her head towards the darkened ceiling, her hand still squeezing her taser as if it were a stress ball.  _ I can agree with that idea. I just need a few minutes. _

_ I can get back together. I can make sure Mom doesn’t know. When I get home, I’ll be able to rest. All of this can wait until tomorrow, when I'm in better control. Just breathe for now… just breathe… _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys like how it's coming along so far. I probably wished death on my own fic and I'm not sure if this will negatively affect Lessons in Humanity. But! I hold out hope that this will turn out well in the end!


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